Shades Between Silver And Gold
by thepenwalker
Summary: Kaito, Haruto and everything in between.
1. Pink

_**This is aiming to be a collection of drabbles that are focused around Kaito and Haruto. That doesn't necessarily mean that they will both feature in every chapter, however.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal or anything related to it.**_

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 **Characters: Kaito, OC.**

 **Genre: Angst, family.**

 **Warnings: Mentioned character death.**

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Pink

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His mother wore pink.

Not when she was duelling officially, in the arena, but at their home in the mountains, she pulled on a pink blouse in the mornings and would dress Kaito in a matching one. It was their thing, no one else's, which was why he didn't care if the other children thought him girly. He didn't need them, not when he had her.

He supposed that she wasn't just his mother; she was his best friend and only real rival at Duel Monsters and Kaito loved her.

That was why he was so apprehensive when she told him that she was going to have another child, that he was going to have a sibling. He didn't want another person involved in the complicated duet that was their life; not his awkward and intimidating father - _who hid in his lab whenever they went to visit and could never remember when Kaito's birthday was_ \- not one of the strange children from the duelling ring - _who didn't understand tactics and didn't understand maths and didn't understand the way Kaito's life orbited around something other than popularity and friends_ \- and definitely not a brother - _who would also wear pink and would learn to duel and who would also love Kaito's mother, maybe even as much as Kaito loved her._

But then his mother was dead and Kaito was alone.

He didn't look alone; there were people around him, who said things to him in sharp voices that wore guises of sadness and gave him warm, tasteless drinks that were cooled by his hands, and his father was there, taking his hand in a gripless hold and leading him to a clear box that had wires running into it and cradled the-

 _-oh._

The baby was there, swaddled in blue to match his hair - _Kaito's mother's hair_ \- and at the funeral, Kaito held Haruto in his arms and watched as they buried his mother beneath the ground - _why the ground when she had always lived in the stars?_ \- and made a promise to the wind and a memory that he would always protect the one his mother died for.

Kaito always wore pink after that, as a tribute to his mother, until he couldn't - _until the world called him out on his promise_ \- and he wore black but shone white as he stared across the pink roofs and searched for a memory that lingered in a wind that was no longer blowing.

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 _ **The ending didn't come out the way I really wanted it too, but I couldn't think of anything else to put. Not all the chapters will be like this one, some will be more like real stories.**_

 _ **Would anyone protest if I make Haruto's nickname for Kaito "Kitty"? Just tell me in a review, so that I can alter the plan for the next chapter.**_


	2. Singing

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Frozen, Disney, the song** **Let It Go,** **or anything associated with these things.**_

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 **Characters: Haruto, .**

 **Genre: Family.**

 **Warnings: None.**

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Singing

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"Father? Father!"

Faker frowned as he looked down at the son who was standing at the door to his lab. While it wasn't unusual for Haruto to visit him throughout the day, he would prefer to be with his brother when he could. Even if it meant waiting for Kaito to finish what he was doing.

 _"Do you want to go to the park, Haruto?"_

 _"No thanks; Kitty's going to take me later."_

 _"Shall we go and get some ice-cream, Haruto?"_

 _"Kitty's going to buy me some from the shop. I could ring him and ask him to get you some, if you like."_

 _"There are going to be fireworks tonight, Haruto."_

 _"I know. Kitty and Chris are going to take me to see them, just the three of us."_

It hurt, even though he knew that it wasn't Haruto's fault. During Faker's self-imposed isolation from ethics and sanity, Kaito had to be the singular parent for Haruto. The bond between them was much stronger than the bonds Faker had ever had with either of his sons.

Which was why it was so strange that Haruto was standing at the door of his office, instead of Kaito's.

"What's the matter, Haruto?" Faker crouched-down to his son's level "has Kaito gone out?"

In response, Haruto held-up a DVD case, one that was covered in happy-looking characters standing in the snow. "I wanted to watch Frozen again, but Kitty said that he would go mad if he had to hear Let It Go one more time. Then he said that you hadn't watched it yet, and I should watch it with you!"

All of this was said in one breath, and Faker mentally blinked. While he had heard of Frozen on the news - it was a global phenomenon, after all - it had never occurred to him as something his boys might be interested in.

Or at least, something that Kaito would never pick-up at a shop.

"Sure," Faker said, standing up and taking the case "shall I make some hot-chocolate while it loads?"

At Haruto's pleased nod, Faker turns into the small kitchenette at the side of his office. He can almost hear Kaito's voice saying _'if you screw this up, I will take Haruto halfway across the globe just to protect him from you.'_

And Faker smiles, watches the film and tries to sing along with Haruto, but can see why Kaito found it so annoying after a while.

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 _ **If anyone does have a problem with Kaito's nickname, then just tell me.**_


	3. Stars

_**Atemues1991: Thank you for being the first to review this story! I'm so glad that you like it.**_

 _ **This one takes place sometime after the WDC but before the war.**_

 _ **If anyone does see any mistakes in any of these, please tell me so that I can change it.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.**_

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 **Characters: Kaito, Haruto.**

 **Genre: Angst, family.**

 **Warnings: None.**

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Stars

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Kaito was used to being woken-up at two in the morning.

"Kitty! Kitty! Big brother! Help!"

However, just because he was used to it didn't mean necessarily that he liked it.

"What's the matter, Haruto?" Kaito questioned as he sat on the edge of his brother's bed. A pair of thin arms wound around his neck as Haruto pressed against him, still shaking. When there was no reply, Kaito continued. "Is it the nightmare again?"

Kaito felt a nod against his chest and sighed. Even though Haruto was better physically now, he still had nightmares about what he had done while under the influence of the Barian power. Kaito felt all of the hate he held for his father rise-up again in waves, before forcing it down. Haruto was priority, now.

"It's alright, it's not real, they don't blame you." Kaito soothed. The last part was true. He had even asked Astral if Haruto was in any danger from the people of his world, and Astral had assured him that no one he knew of wanted Haruto to pay for what he had done.

However, that did nothing to sooth Haruto's guilt.

"Come on," Kaito muttered, picking up and cradling his little brother, "there is something that you need to see."

On top of the roof was quiet and cool. Kaito liked to be up here because the haze of light that covered the city like a second skin couldn't stretch this far. As a result, the roof of Heartland tower was the only place where one could see the stars.

"Look, Haruto," he nudged the trembling figure that clung to him. The small child glanced up and Kaito heard his awed gasp.

"I forgot how many stars there were, Kitty." Haruto sounded surprised at himself. "I can remember that there were more stars than I could count, but I didn't think that it would be this many."

"There are billions of stars, Haruto," Kaito replied "let's count them together."


	4. Hot Chocolate

_**This one is set about two years after the war, which is probably why Kaito and Faker get along so well.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal or anything to do with it.**_

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 **Characters: , Kaito**

 **Genre: Family**

 **Warnings: None**

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Hot Chocolate

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Sometimes, when it was late and the artificial lights were turned down low, Faker went to Kaito.

If Chris was there, helping with some late-night research, Faker would back-pedal up the stairs and wait-out the night on his own strength. He didn't need to scare-away the few precious people his son still had in his life. However, if the radio was on low and there were no voices floating through the door at random intervals, Faker would gingerly slide the door open and place himself at the research bench in the corner.

Sometimes, Kaito would glance once at him before returning to his work. Other times, Kaito would be using the more dangerous equipment in the portioned-off section, and wouldn't realise that Faker was there for hours. Very, very occasionally would they communicate in any way.

Tonight was one of those nights.

"Do you want coffee?" Kaito questioned, officially abandoning the improved litter-bot design for the time-being.

"Sure," Faker rasped, unsure of how to use his voice after so many hours of silence.

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Filling the kettle, Kaito eyed the man across from him.

He looked tired.

Dr Faker looked so, unbelievably tired that Kaito was worried that his old man would collapse in his chair, and then what would he do?

"Hey," Kaito called, in the most gentle voice he could muster "seeing as you look ready to fall asleep anyway, why don't I make you some hot chocolate and you can go to bed?"

Not much to his surprise, Dr Faker shook his head "I've been having trouble sleeping lately. I would probably just stay awake for the rest of the night.

Kaito gave his father a shadowy echo of a smile.

"Well why don't you try anyway. I'll always be around in case you need me."

"I know." Faker replied.


	5. Green

_**I'm sorry about the delay, but I don't currently have internet access at home.**_

 ** _I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal._**

Green

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Haruto stared through the fluffy green branches of the tree that had been standing in the middle of their living room when he woke-up. His brother had just put a cardboard box that looked like it was about to fall apart on the floor and now seemed to be sorting through it.

What was this, now?

"Kitty," Haruto stepped out from behind the tree and approached the crouched figure on the floor. "What are you doing?"

Kaito froze momentarily, before turning with a half-smile on his face. "Surely you haven't forgotten, Haruto," he said "today's the tenth of December. We always put-up the Christmas tree today."

At this, Haruto's mouth opened in a silent gasp of excitement. "Is it today, Kitty? Really?"

Kaito nodded whilst trying to hold back his laughter at Haruto's excitement.


	6. Bubbles

_**Sorry about the delay. I had exams to study for.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.**_

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 **Characters: Kaito, Haruto**

 **Genre: Family**

 **Warnings: none**

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Bubbles

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The baby tried desperately to grab at the bubbles as they floated past. Kaito, sitting on the grass and idly blowing bubbles in his baby brothers direction, smiled. Being outside in the warm sunshine made Haruto so happy. He was like their mother in that respect, she loved being outside.

Kaito always had to blink back tears at the thought of his mother. He missed her so much.

The call of "Kit-Kit" - Haruto's nickname for him - broke through his thoughts. The baby was gazing at him, clearly wondering where the bubbles had gone.

Kaito took a deep breath before blowing more bubbles at Haruto, making his brother giggle and reach for them. Haruto had only just learned to sit up on his own, so chasing them was out of the question.

Or so it seemed.

The baby squealed as Kaito swooped down to pick him up so that they could chase bubbles together.


End file.
